Writing in a personal capacity to share views, information and resources for teachers, trade unionists and campaigners in London - and beyond!

Wednesday, 7 February 2018

School Cuts are cutting jobs - the facts for London Local Authorities

"Real terms cuts to school funding since 2015 have led to a big reduction
in the number of secondary teachers, teaching assistants and support
staff in England, says research published today by the School Cuts
alliance of education unions ... Staff numbers in secondary schools have fallen by 15,000
between 2014/15 and 2016/17 despite having 4,500 more pupils to teach.
This equates to an average loss of 5.5 staff members in each school
since 2015"- read the NEU press release here.

Make sure every Londoner knows about school cuts when they vote in this May’s elections

During last year’s General Election, NUT campaigning helped to make school cuts a key issue in voters’ minds. The now departed Secretary of State, Justine Greening, was forced to announce that she had found additional funding for schools. However, while a small amount of redirected education funding was won for schools, the reality is that school cuts will still be biting hard. £2.8 billion has already been cut from schools since 2015. Worse is to come, with nine out of every ten schools facing a further real terms cut in per pupil funding from 2015 to 2019.

DfE figures confirm just how many jobs have been cut

We now have another chance to get our message across. That’s because, on 3 May 2018, all London council seats are up for re-election.We’ve also got new facts to give - not just about the cuts that are going to happen in the future but about the disastrous effect that school cuts have had already. Our latest research - drawn solely from Government figures - shows funding cuts have already meant job cuts.

In secondary schools, staff numbers nationally have fallen by 15,000. London’s secondary schools have, on average, each had to cut five members of staff in the last two years alone. An even greater workload falls on the remaining staff, driving even more teachers out of the profession. Remember, less than half of England's teachers last more than ten years in the job already. Our research also confirms that pupil teacher ratios have been rising too. This means higher class sizes and less individual attention for children.

We can't let these cuts continue. Young people only get one chance at school and we know that education cuts never heal. That’s
why we must build the campaign against school cuts and make sure that
every candidate knows that voters are expecting them to back our call
for investment in education.

Build the Campaign

Our latest research from the workforce data is being released to the press in early February and backed up by a social media campaign and messages to NEU members.

Every NUT Division should be making plans to call a meeting - preferably in a supportive school - to bring together campaigners to plan activities.

Model materials will be produced to help build the meeting and, most important of all, to encourage attendees to go away and organise their own parents’ mini-meetings in primary schools and in their local communities.

We will be building towards a national day of action - with stunts, mass leafleting, street stalls and local demonstrations - to be held at the end of April.

With the local elections in mind, the London Region will be particularly asking members to help campaign in key battlegrounds like Barnet, Wandsworth and Kensington & Chelsea where we can get most publicity for our message.

Martin Powell-Davies

* Brought up as a socialist by parents who hungered for what is right * One adopted grandfather left me a double-barrelled name, the other his name on a 1926 General Strike black-list * Joined the Labour Party as a teenager, left it when it abandoned the values and traditions of so many who built it in the past * Given a comprehensive education at St.Andrew's, Leatherhead * First-class degree from King's College, Cambridge, for those who like that kind of thing * Secondary science teacher in London 1986-2015 * Lewisham NUT Secretary 1993-2015, organiser of many campaigns to defend teachers and education * Living in Sydenham since 1997, father of four who were all so well-supported by Sedgehill School * Member of the NUT National Executive 2010-15 * NUT London Regional Secretary 2016 - * Proud to have been name-checked by Gove for saying that his 'reforms' could make teaching unbearable * Member of the CWI, following its global struggles via http://www.socialistworld.net * Candidate for TUSC in Lewisham West & Penge, 2015 * Member of Penge CC, often a 'Middle Aged Man In Lycra' on Sundays